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TRAINING IN TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING
1.
LANGUAGE SERVICES IN A MULTILINGUAL SOCIETY
It is a truism to say that translation and interpreting have been crucial factors in maintaining the
principle which will soon be engraved on every Euro coin: "Unity in Diversity".1 The fact that ever
since the foundation of the European Community, heads of state and heads of government, elected
representatives and the citizens of Europe have had the right to express themselves in their mother
tongue when addressing other Europeans, with the assurance that they would be understood by others
in their own language, not only in general terms but with all the subtlety, humour and precision that a
mother tongue allows, has been one of the cornerstones of the construction of a linguistically diverse
community.2 Whether the politicians and citizens of Europe all wish to avail themselves of this
freedom is quite another matter, but the freedom has been upheld, and that is what counts.
Translation and interpreting are not, of course, the only pathways to a multilingual society. The
promotion of widespread foreign language learning and cultural awareness are essential goals to be
pursued in the context of a multilingual, multicultural Europe. However, high level professional
translation and interpreting services have for many years been instrumental in maintaining linguistic
and cultural diversity both in the European institutions themselves and in European society as a whole,
and will continue to play this role in the foreseeable future.
At the institutional level, the translation, terminology and interpreting services of the Commission, the
Parliament and other European bodies have played an essential role in maintaining the delicate balance
between supra-national and national institutions, and have enabled the principle of multilingualism to
survive throughout the successive phases of enlargement. Despite the ever-increasing cost, every new
addition of official languages has been followed by an increase in staffing and resources for the
translation and interpreting services.
In the economic arena, professional translation and interpreting services have also played an important
part in preserving the linguistic and cultural diversity of a single European market, despite the natural
tendency of free market forces to promote a single European language, i.e. English. User manuals,
consumer information, contracts and even technical documentation, can, and in some cases, must by
law be distributed in a variety of European (and non-European) languages. This is made possible by
the high standards of salaried or freelance professional translators and to the development of
terminology banks and databases produced within the Community by professional terminologists.
Annual General Meetings and other key meetings can still be held in several languages within the
growing number of multinational or transnational companies thanks to the skills and professionalism
of business interpreters using simultaneous or consecutive interpreting techniques.
More recently, a particular type of linguistic service, public service interpreting, has begun to play a
vital role in parts if Europe in helping men and women from countries outside the EU to understand
their basic rights, to gain access to information and to express themselves in their mother tongue when
dealing with legal or administrative authorities in their country of adoption. Even though public
service interpreting is still not widely used or officially recognised in many parts of the EU, it too is
part of the constant struggle to promote better understanding between different peoples and cultures,
while at the same time facilitating the economic and social integration of immigrant groups in their
host country. Specific forms of interpreting, such as sign-language interpreting, have also made a
major contribution in helping people with hearing and speech impairments to play a more active role
in society, thus favouring another kind of diversity within the community.
The size of the European translation and interpretation market was assessed by independent
consultants at the end of 1997, on behalf of European Commission DGXIII, as part of a wider study of
the impact of multilingualism in Europe.3 The report estimated the “non-captive market” (excluding
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in-house translations for companies or national and international organisations) for the 18 countries of
the European Economic Area at 3.75 billion EUR in 1997, representing some 82,000 translation
professionals. What the report calls “capitve jobs” (translators and interpreters working for large
companies or organisations) represent an additional 20-25%. It was estimated that the new fields of
translation (software, audio-visual and multimedia translation) already represented 20% of the total
market in 1997, with “important growth potential”, which was also the case for localisation activities.
However, this growth potential was not necessarily seen as implying growth in employment in the
traditional sectors of the European translation industry. The report stressed the challenge of increasing
global competition, especially from America, and the demand for “more global services involving
writing in several languages by taking into consideration the cultural elements, text revision and
quality insurance, the participation in commercial campaigns, the promotion of multilingua awareness,
and participation in publishing”. It concluded that “if the traditional sector does not initiate the
necessary change in direction, the other neighbouring sectors will take the initiative and thus venture
to appropriate for themselves a part of the translation activity”. The rapid changes of the last three
years have shown that this warning is even more relevant today than it was in 1997.
2.
TRANSLATOR AND INTERPRETER TRAINING IN PERSPECTIVE
The academic institutions responsible for the training of translators and interpreters have been trying
since the 1950s to respond to international and national needs throughout Europe.
Specialist translator and interpreter training institutions were set up both in Western and in Eastern
Europe in the 50s and 60s to cater for the respective needs of the Western European institutions and
market on the one hand, and of the COMECON group of countries on the other. As the market for
multilingual communication widened in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a growing number of language
faculties and departments in Western Europe recognised the need for specific translation and/or
interpreting courses and qualifications alongside traditional language degrees, leading to a rapid
increase in the numbers of graduates with T/I qualifications.
However, the rapid technological and political changes of the 80s and 90s made it increasingly
difficult for academic institutions to keep up with changing market needs.
The advent of new technologies had a particularly significant impact in the area of translation.
Translators were increasingly expected to be familiar with ICT tools as translation companies and
freelance translators strove for productivity gains. Training institutions were therefore increasingly
confronted with the question of whether or not to include ICT in translator training courses and to
what degree.
In the area of interpreting, the integration of new member states highlighted the growing demand for
working language combinations including less widely used European languages such as Greek,
Finnish or Swedish, which had hitherto not been taught in most training courses.
The CEE countries faced particular challenges after 1990. The sudden increase in trans-european
commerce and communication highlighted deficiencies the lack of qualified professional translators
and interpreters with the language combinations now required by the market and serious deficiencies
in trained teaching staff and teaching facilities.
Role of the professional bodies
As all these changes were gradually taken on board by the profession, the debate over the adequacy of
translator training became more heated. Professional bodies had for some years been voicing their
recommendations as to what skills needed to be taught. The first such call for more practise-based
courses in translation was voiced at the UNESCO Nairobi Conference in 1976. This was first taken up
at the national level by the German BDÜ (Bundesverband der Dolmetscher und Übersetzer e.V.), who
were active in producing a definition of training requirements following a conference held in 1983.
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The German professional association recommended, for instance, that "exam conditions should, as far
as possible, reflect actual professional working conditions (for instance, with access to files,
dictionaries and other work tools; texts chosen from actual professional material and, as regards
interpreting, translation of presentations made "live" by native speakers)"4 and that "training should
reflect normal professional practise".
The mid 1990s saw a number of important inititives designed to promote a better definition of
professional practise in the field of translation and greater cooperation between professional bodies
and training institutions. The definition of professional practise was helped by the publication of
recognised standards such as ISO 9000 and 9001, or the more general German Standards Institute DIN
2345 "Übersetzungvorhaben" (1996), which set out what clients could expect of translators, and viceversa.
Some national professional bodies, for instance in France or in Belgium,5 focussed on the definition of
professional status, with a view to introducing rules for access via legislation or self-regulation. These
rules make explicit reference to what standard of qualification and training should be expected of
those wanting to enter the profession.
The education and training of translators was one of a wide range of issues considered in 1995 under
the "European Translation Platform" supported by the European Commission (DG XIII): other issues
included the impact of new technologies, the raising of the profile of the profession, customer
education and quality assurance. More specifically centering on training issues, the POSI project
(Praxis Orientierte Studieninhalt or Practise oriented study contents in the training of translators and
interpreters) was initiated by the International Federation of Translators (IFT/FIT Europe) in 1997 and
gave rise to a number of national reports, including one on the situation in Central and Eastern
Europe.6 The Federation also published general recommendations as to what it regarded as the
essential components of a translator training course.7
In academic circles, isolated voices had been raised as early as the late 70s to draw attention to the
need for skills such as terminography and terminology management, domain-specific translation of
truly specialised documents, and professional work practises in academic translation courses.8 But it is
only in the last ten years or so that the debate has really centred on whether universities should focus
on teaching translation or on training translators. The SIGMA Scientific Committee on languages
(1994-95) devoted a section of its report to the situation regarding T&I training in European member
states. For their part, the CIUTI institutions produced a description of course contents in member
schools and institutes in 1995.9
The respective weighting given to translation theory and research oriented studies on the one hand and
professional practise and hands-on experience on the other became the focal point of many a forum
and symposium. The academic system in some countries (e.g. Germany) actually made it difficult or
impossible to include mandatory work placements in university curricula, while in France, 6 to 16
week internships were made compulsory at the national level. In some countries and institutions,
pressure to publish and competition for research-related resources placed the emphasis on gaining
recognition for "translation studies" as a bona fide academic discipline, while in others, pride of place
was given to practise and meeting the changing demands of the profession and the marketplace. The
balance between theory and practise is still very much determined by the constraints of various
national academic systems, with some taking a more flexible attitude than others towards the official
ratio of lectures and seminars to practicals and project-centred activities.
3.
TRANSLATOR AND INTEPRETER TRAINING: THE CURRENT PICTURE
The Thematic Network Project in the area of Languages (TNP) subproject on Translation and
Interpreting (1996-1999) produced national reports from the present EU countries as well as a
synthesis report covering the CEE countries.10 The reports identified the strengths and weaknesses of
current HE T/I programmes and have led to a set of recommendations.11
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The overall picture of translator and interpreter training in Europe, in terms of organisation,
responsibility, duration of courses, qualifications and contents, still reveals a great deal of diversity.
However, a number of converging trends are beginning to emerge.
3.1. Institutions
It is very difficult to give an accurate figure regarding the number of T/I courses taught throughout
Europe and the number of institutions and departments responsible. The national reports drawn up
within the TNP subproject identified over 100 higher educational institutions offering specific
translation or interpreting courses at least to degree level, in the EU, and at least 27 in Central and
Eastern Europe, but this figure only includes publicly-funded academic establishments or officially
recognised private institutions and does not take into account the many hundreds of certification
courses run by various other bodies (chambers of commerce, private language schools, etc.).
In EU member states, translation courses are in most cases run by faculties, schools and departments
separate from the traditional language departments. The degree of separation, however, varies from
country to country, and from institution to institution. Spain has had Faculties of translation and
interpreting for a number of years, and in Italy, the two best known institutions (the SSLMIT of the
universities of Trieste and Bologna) also enjoy faculty status. Many of the oldest institutions began
life as "Schools" before being absorbed by universities but while still retaining something or all of
their former autonomy. In France, several of the best known institutions enjoy the special status
accorded to "Ecoles" within the French HE system. When not enjoying faculty status, nearly all T&I
departments or schools are located in or attached to Humanities and Languages faculties, but in some
cases (e.g. Denmark) they may be part of a Business School or a technical institution (e.g. Metz in
France).
In Central and Eastern Europe, only a third of the institutions identified had separate administrative
and teaching structures to run their T/I courses. As elsewhere, the majority of non-autonomous centres
or departements were attached to Language faculties, although Hungary, and to a lesser extent
Romania, has a tradition of considering translation as a discipline which can be taught in Technical
Universities, Institutes and Colleges.
3.2. Programmes
The degree of autonomy of T/I schools, institutes and departments is of course closely related to the
recognition by national or university authorities of distinct courses in translation or interpreting. The
main difficulty lies in determining what constitutes a Translation "course". University level courses
with a "translation" label may range from a few modules appended to a foreign language degree in the
final year to a full four or five-year syllabus. In the latter case, the first two years of study are usually
devoted to the consolidation of general language skills and cultural background, which may be
supported either by theoretical approaches to linguistics or stylistics, or, in applied language courses,
by the acquisition of domain-specific knowledge in areas such as economics, law or technical subjects.
The final year or two years of study are then more specifically centred on translation skills, with
specialisations in translating, interpreting (conference or community), technical writing or other
professional skills. The length of the actual course of study may also depend on whether or not it
includes a compulsory period of study abroad (e.g. UK, Netherlands).
Throughout Europe, specialisations in professional translation or interpreting are increasingly offered
as a higher degree of postgraduate qualifications. This is particularly the case in France, where
translation if officially only recognised as a 4th year specialisation of the Applied Language Degree:
the past ten years have therefore seen a flowering of "DESS" vocational postgraduate qualifications in
various fields of professional translation.12 It is also true in Britain, where at least 26 different
MA/MSc and postgraduate qualifications are offered, compared to only 7 undergraduate courses. A
similar situation prevails in the CEE countries, where translation courses are often offered at
"magister/masterat" or postgraduate level.
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More an more universities in the West also offer special courses for practising translators wishing to
gain academic recognition for their skills or wanting to update their knowledge of specific
technologies, methods, or of the theoretical framework.
There has therefore clearly been a general move throughout Europe over the last ten years towards the
clear identification of specific professionally oriented translation courses and specialisations as distinct
from language courses. However, the distinction is still not clearly acknowledged everwhere in terms
of separate qualifications and the extreme diversity of qualifications delivered in the area of translation
can lead to confusion in the eyes of future employers and may restrict mobility within a wider Europe.
Access to T/I programmes depends very much on national regulations and course level. In some cases,
students are selected at entry on the basis a) of their communicative competence in their working
languages and b) of their aptitude in translation or interpreting. Other countries allow no selection at
the initial university degree level, but do allow selective entry to post-graduate T/Icourses or in certain
types of institutions.
3.3. Course contents
Curricula are still largely determined by each institution. While some countries like Spain have
detailed national syllabuses (for the Licenciatura in translation and interpreting), others have only
framework definitions of what should be taught.
There is increasing convergence as regards core course components, i.e. pre-translation skills such as
document analysis and documentation, terminology resources and terminotics, basic and advanced IT
skills, domain-specific translation and post-translation skills. However, wide variation is still to be
found in areas such as the number of hours and weighting given to theory and practise within the
syllabus, the frequency and authenticity of work carried out in professional conditions, the inclusion of
compulsory work placements, or the degree of integration of all the course components in a coordinated gradual training process.
In CEE institutions with specific T/I programmes, courses increasingly include many of the standard
course components recommended by EU bodies, with professional skills being taught and practised
alongside more theoretical aspects of translatology and terminology. This is particularly the case in
institutions which have taken part in Tempus projects with EU partners. In such cases, EU funding has
generally enabled the CEE institution to purchase ICT and/or interpreting equipment. The acquisition
of basic ICT skills is becoming mandatory in fully-fledged T/I programmes, but expertise in the use of
more advanced computer assisted translation tools is still relatively rare. Work experience and fullscale "real life" translation projects are rarely included within the curriculum itself. Only a very few
respondents mention partnerships with translation companies, generally because such companies are
still too small to be able to offer significant work placements.
There has therefore clearly been a move throughout Europe away from the teaching of translation as
part of general language programmes and towards the designing of specific course structures and
teaching methodologies for translator training, resting on a solid theoretical base. Course designers
show a growing awareness of changes in professional practise and a growing number of institutions
now provide students with state-of-the-art equipment and software.
However, the provision of "hands-on" experience still remains a problem area in some countries. Such
difficulties may be due to the administrative rules governing the inclusion of work placements in
university programmes or to local market conditions which make it difficult for students to find
translation companies or services willing to offer work experience. Realistic simulations of
professional conditions within the academic context can help to overcome some of these obstacles (see
the Traductech project described below), but they require a flexibility in course organisation which
many institutions and academics find difficult to implement.
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Striking a balance between a purely academic approach to "translation studies" or "translatology", and
actual translator training, where the knowledge and skills acquired are brought into play in "real-life"
translation projects, remains a difficult exercise in many institutions.
Interpreting programmes appear to display a greater degree of convergence, possibly due to the fact
that many of the major training institutions are CIUTI members and have therefore adhered to the
principles and recommendations of that organisation regarding course contents and standards.
3.4. Language combinations
A clear distinction must be made between countries where the native tongue is a widely used
language, and the others. In the former, most professional translation is conducted into the native
language (A) . In countries with less widely used languages, most of the work required is translation
into the B or even C languages, in order to reflect the true state of the market. This is notably the case
in Central and Eastern Europe, where translators are frequently required to work into a foreign
language (generally English, French and/or German). However, serious deficiencies still exist with
regard to the growing number of potential language combinations (e.g. the problems raised at the
Helsinki summit over Finnish and German).
3.5. The training of trainers in translation and interpreting
Teachers of translation (and interpreting) come from a variety of backgrounds. They range from
academic language specialists with little or no professional experience of translating (other than
literary or general translation) to practising professionals with little academic training or teaching
experience.
The involvement of practising professionals in the teaching of specific skills is variable across Europe.
Figures are difficult to interpret as "professionals" may include both full-time academic staff who have
or have had experience of professional translating and practising salaried or freelance translators
employed on a part-time basis by the university. According to a recent survey,13 the percentage of
"professionals" involved in 16 major EU institutions ranged from 5 to 100%, while the percentage of
external teachers compared to total staff ranged from 0 to over 80%. While in countries like France the
employment of professionals from outside the university is accepted practise (special part-time posts
being created for this purpose), this is by no means the case everywhere. Professional involvement is
probably more common in interpreting courses, particularly for conference interpreting.
The last decade has begun to see the arrival of a new generation of former practising professionals
with a solid academic background and research interests, who are now beginning to take up posts and
responsibilities in T&I departments, although they are still in a minority.
A number of difficulties were highlighted in the above-mentioned survey. These were first related to
the background of the translator training staff themselves, i.e. practising professionals with no teaching
experience in communicating their know-how and professional experience or academic staff
insufficiently aware of the specific nature of professional translation as opposed to "academic"
translation. These problems were sometimes compounded by the lack of sufficient co-ordination at
course level and the lack of clearly defined methodological frameworks for inexperienced teachers.
Academic staff were sometimes confronted with the difficulties of dealing with specialised domainspecific texts in areas they were not familiar with, inducing a tendency to avoid truly specialised
documents and to fall back on general or semi-specialised texts. The area of specific testing and
grading procedures was also pinpointed as one which would require further investigation and
development.
4. RECOMMENDATIONS
4.1 The TNP subproject on T/I recommendations, 1999
In the light of the current European developments and the demand for professional translation and
interpretation, it is important that T/I services be of the highest professional quality across Europe, and
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that a number of common standards and practises be therefore adopted by all T/I institutions. The TNP
T/I subproject made the following recommendations on the basis of the work carried out during 19961999:
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That specific programmes and qualifications should be recognised by national and academic
authorities for translator training at undergraduate and graduate level.
That T/I programmes should be run by autonomous T/I departments or faculties in order to better
ensure that training complies with the highest professional standards.
That access to T/I programmes should be based on clear entrance requirements in terms of
languages competence and T/I aptitude, tested as the case may be by entrance examination or
aptitude test.
That the course profiles recommended by the Thematic Network Project respectively for
translation, conference interpreting and public service interpreting be considered as a basis
conducive to greater European co-operation and convergence in translator and interpreter training.
That "hands-on" experience, either in the form of realistic simulations or actual mandatory work
placements, should whenever possible form an integral part of every training programme.
That courses should favour the integration of theory and practise.
That T/I research should be supported at the national and EU level by specific funding and grant
project opportunities.
That the training of translator and interpreter trainers should balance academic and professional
approaches and that trainers themselves should when possible combine an academic and a
professional background.
4.2. Recommendations for 2000-2005
Given the accelerating rate of change in translation practise and in the translation market on the one
hand, and the prospect of EU enlargement within the next five years to a number of CEE pre-accession
countries, the following areas will require special political and economic support at the national and
EU level:
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5.
The establishment of separate departments, institutes or schools at HE institutions to run T/I
programmes, where this is not already the case.
The recognition of specific, fully-fledged undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programmes
in translation and interpreting, especially in CEE pre-accession countries.
The introduction of the less widely used and taught languages of the future enlarged EU in
existing or new T/I programmes.
The development of flexible, modular, common standard T/I programmes throughout Europe, to
ensure quality and teacher/student mobility as well as the mutual recognition of qualifications.
The development of specialized skills such as subtitling, localisation, technical writing, relay
interpreting, interpreting for the media, etc. so as to ensure that translators and interpreters meet
the changing demands of both the public and private markets.
The use of online and distance learning and the development of lifelong education to help
practising translators and interpreters to keep up with changing market conditions and needs.
Initiatives by professional bodies and academic institutions to recognize common standards of
access to the translation and interpreting professions in order to enhance professional status and
visibility.
Specific T/I related research projects at university level.
EXAMPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE
The recommendations for professional standards in the training of translators and interpreters have
been based on existing norms in a number of university-level programmes across Europe, among them
the institutes adhering to the standards set forth by CIUTI (Conférence internationale des instituts
universitaires de traducteurs et interprètes).
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Certain specific initiatives have been undertaken since 1996 by a number of EU universities, to
promote good practise in the areas of translator and interpreter training:
5.1.
The University Programme at Advanced Level (Masters-type) in Conference Interpreting
This programme has been developed with the support of the European Commission´s Joint
Interpreting and Conference Service (JICS), the European Parliament´s Directorate for Interpreting
and the European Commission DG XXII. Eight universities were initially chosen to be part of the
consortium, which has since been extended to include 14 institutions:
Karl Franzens Universität
Hoger Instituut voor Vertalers en Tolken
Handelshøjskolen i København
Universidad de la Laguna
Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle
Universidade Do Minho
Stockholms Universitet
University of Westminster
Johannes Gutenberg Universität
Turku University
Eötvös Loránd University (Elte)
Università degli Studi di Trieste
Charles University
Université de Genève
Graz - Austria
Antwerpen - Belgium
Copenhagen - Denmark
La Laguna - Spain
Paris - France
Braga - Portugal
Stockholm - Sweden
London - U.K.
Mainz - Germany
Turku - Finland
Budapest - Hungary
Trieste - Italy
Prague - Czech Republic
Geneva – Switzerland
The initial members developed a joint curriculum for a post-graduate programme in conference
interpreting, including core elements such as the theory of interpretation, practice of interpretation,
consecutive interpretation, simultaneous interpretation, EU and international organisations, and a
range of optional courses. The programme is open to graduates from a wide range of disciplines with a
high level of competence in specific languages, particularly less widely used languages.
Jointly agreed criteria have been determined for both elegibility and admission to the programme:

Elegibility: a recognised University degree or equivalent (in any subject); excellent command
of the mother tongue (A language) over a wide range of topics and registers; in-depth
knowledge of the working languages (B and C); A-CC, A-BC or A-A language combinations;
a good overall knowledge of international affairs and of the economic, social and cultural
background of the countries in which their working languages are used; good powers of
concentration, analysis and synthesis, good communication skills, a high degree of motivation,
the ability to work under pressure and a readiness to accept advice.

Admission: by aptitude test conducted by a panel including a majority of professional
interpreters and interpreter trainers. The aptitude test includes: the oral reproduction of short
and structured speeches (2-3 minutes) from the candidates C and B languages into A and,
where appropriate, A into B; a general knowledge test; an interview with the candidate.
Additionally the test may include: sight translation; a brief oral presentation by the candidate
on a subject chosen by the panel; written tests.
Further information: SCIC web site (http://europa.eu.int/comm/scic/training/em_confint_en.htm)
or ELC homepage (http://www.fu-berlin.de/elc)
5.2 Tradutech: realistic technical translation projects in a university context
The TRADUTECH European IPC programme was initiated by the Institut Marie Haps (Brussels) and
the Centre de formation des traducteurs of the Université de Rennes 2 (France) as a three-year coTNP Languages – Dissemination Project – Annexes to the Final Report – page 134
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operative experiment involving 5 other European T&I institutions (KVH Antwerpen, SSITT Milano,
Comillas Madrid, Fachhochschule Köln, Faculty of T&I Salamanca). Other universities have since
joined the original participants and taken part in activities (Université Lille 3, France, University of
Cluj-Napoca, and University of Bucharest, Rumania).
Participating institutions agree on a common framework for the implementation of technical
translation work in “real-life” conditions and with strictly defined quality control criteria. Students
from the different institutions work simultaneously on the same source text, translating it into their
mother tongue. Two Tradutech "session", each normally lasting a whole week, are organised each
year.
Source texts are specialised technical document or sets of documents (user manual, technical
instructions, maintenance manual, etc.) of 30 to 40 pages provided by a professional translator (who
has himself translated or supervised the translation of the document). Care is obviously taken to
choose documents for which the translated version is not readily available either in printed form or online.
The work must be carried out according to the best professional practise. The translation produced
must conform to the exact specifications stipulated by the «client» and assessment of the finished
product is carried out when possible by the professional translator who was responsible for the original
translation or by a domain specialist who is not familiar with the source text.
Participants are free to organise their own system but are all expected to go through all stages of
translating: document analysis; documentary research and consultation; terminology research;
translation; revision; post-editing. Strict specifications are drawn up by project and team leaders to
ensure rigorous procedures and coherence. Realism is enhanced by all means and the « client » may,
in that respect, demand last-minute additions or modifications to the original translation.
The European dimension is implemented by fostering communication between the various
participating student groups and, notably, through an annual symposium through which participating
project leaders and teachers discuss the project, carry out an analysis of the system, and decide on
improvements. Besides, participants can exchange their comments and share experiences once the
work is completed. The possibility of a European certificate in technical translation awarded on the
basis of participation in and assessment of work produced in at least two “Tradutech” sessions and the
successful completion of a two-month work placement, is under discussion.
Further information : Prof. Daniel GOUADEC, Centre de formation des traducteurs, terminologues,
rédacteurs, Université de Rennes 2, France, (daniel.gouadec@uhb.fr) or Prof. Hugo MARQUANT,
Institut Marie Haps, Brussels (inthaps@innet.be).
5.3 Public service interpreting
Public service interpreting has traditionally been given a higher priority in Scandinavian countries than
in other parts of Europe. The public service interpreter training programme set up in 1996, in
Denmark, by the Faculty of Modern Languages at the Aarhus School of Business and the Copenhagen
Business School, respectively are therefore particularly relevant examples of good practise in this
field.
The programme is a two-year programme under the Open University. The first two terms concentrate
on modules on interpreting (and translation) in medical and social settings. During the following two
terms, students can choose between three different specialization modules, i.e. police and court
interpreting, extended medical and psychiatric interpreting and business interpreting. All modules are
concerned with interpreting techniques and ethics as well as terminology and includes guest lectures
given by professionals from the respective fields. So far, the languages concerned have been Arabic,
Turkish, Farsi, Polish, and Serbo-Croatian.
TNP Languages – Dissemination Project – Annexes to the Final Report – page 135
Financial Agreement Number: D25917-CP-1-99-1-DE-ERASMUS-ETN
APFIN II Number: 1999-0987/001/1
The programme was initially set up to meet the increasing demand for qualified interpreting for
immigrants and refugees. The demand came not only from the service providers, i.e. from hospitals,
social agencies, courts, etc., but also from persons already working as public service interpreters but
who felt the need for specific training in this area. The overall objective of the programme is to
upgrade the status of PSBI and help it be recognised as a bona fide skilled language profession.
The programme displays great flexibility and can therefore easily be applied in part or in whole in
other countries in terms of didactics, methodology and curriculum structure.
For further information, Bodil Martinsen, associated professor at the Aarhus School of Business, can
be contacted (E-mail: brm@asb.dk).
Final version draughted by by D.TOUDIC, Université de Rennes 2, France
November 2000
Notes
1
motto chosen in May 2000 by a panel of personalities, pending confirmation by European heads of state and government.
Article 21 of the Treaty of Rome, the founding Act of the European Community, asserts the right of "Every citizen of the
Union to write to any of the institutions or bodies referred to in this Article or in Article 7 [i.e.those of the European Union]
in one of the languages mentioned in Article 314 [i.e. the languages of the founding member states and of subsequent
member states] and have an answer in the same language."
3 “ASSIM REPORT”, Executive Summary, April 20th 1999
4 BDÜ Memorandum, Coordinating Committee "Praxis und Lehre", 1986, French version, p.6
5 Société français des traducteurs and the Belgian CBTIP/BKVTP
6 Zuzana Jettmarova, T&I training in Central and Eastern Europe, November 1998
7 FIT, "Professional profile for translators and interpreters of the EU member countries" (English and French language
versions), 1995 and Curriculum outline, 1999.
8 In France, for instance, Daniel Gouadec, “Stages internes, stages externes”, Meta, Vol.24, n°4, Dec. 1979.
9 Martin Forstner (ed.), Translation and Interpreting Studies, First edition, C.I.U.T.I., 1995.
10 http://www.fu-berlin.de/elc/TNPproducts/SP7NatReps.pdf
11
http://www.fu-berlin.de/elc/TNPproducts/SP7FinalRecs.pdf
12 At least 22 universities now offer postgraduate “DESS” courses in translation (up from 17 two years ago).
13 TNP 26022 Year 1 report, 1997
2
TNP Languages – Dissemination Project – Annexes to the Final Report – page 136